TIME FOR A CHANGE
by committed
Summary: The nightmare was getting too much, Grissom knew he had to do something.
1. Chapter 1

TIME FOR A CHANGE 

Grissom looked at the image on the computer screen, time was almost up. The rest of the lab was still a hive of activity. Jackie was still trying to find any lead from the fingerprints they collected, Mia was in the DNA lab trying to find any evidence in the databases of any similarities between the DNA collected and any profile already in the system. The rest of the csi's were going over the evidence they had collected, probably for the forth or fifth time. Hodges was looking for trace evidence on the envelope, although he had already processed it himself and found nothing. Brass was interviewing everyone again hoping to uncover more information.

Grissom knew it was over, they were still no closer to finding where the coffin was buried. Archie had narrowed the cell phones signal down to a 42 mile radius, police were doing a search of the area but Grissom knew it would be a miracle if they found anything in time.

Grissom just sat and watched, he felt lost, he had no idea what else he could do. It was something he'd never felt before, he had always relied on his superior intellect, book learning and more than twenty years of accumulated information to solve even the hardest cases. This was something he couldn't solve and he was finding that a hard concept to accept.

When the video link had been delivered to the lab and they had all gotten over their initial shock at what they saw Grissom had gone into hyper drive. He had worked the case relentlessly, going over all the evidence himself, being present at every interview Brass had conducted and even spending a couple of hours driving around with a police officer. Nothing new had been discovered for the last 6 hours and he now knew that they would never discover what they needed in time.

As Grissom watched, Sara opened her eyes again. In the whole time they had been watching she had stayed completely calm, the only evidence she was still alive was the occasional opening and closing of her eyes. He had always known how strong she was but he couldn't believe her reactions to this situation.

He found himself getting angry again, after everything she'd been through in her life how could this bastard subject her to yet another horror.

Just as he started to get up to get another coffee he saw Sara move and he sat back down again. He saw her head turn to the side and her arm start to slide around the side of her body. As he started to wonder what was in the coffin with her she lifted up a gun. Before he could even register what was happening Sara released the safety on the gun and shot herself in the head.

Grissom woke up in a cold sweat, For a few seconds he had no idea where he was and he felt the hard beating of his heart and the terror of knowing Sara was lying dead in a grave that might never be discovered.

Then he turned his head and saw his alarm clock and it all came back to him, he'd had that damn nightmare again.

"I can't go on like this, I have to do something' Grissom muttered as he dragged his still tired body out of bed and headed for the shower.

A/N This is my first fan fic. I've had many ideas in my head and this is just one I wanted to put down. I am not a writer but am trying to do my best. Please R & R and let me know if you want me to continue.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- Thanks for all the lovely reviews. Sorry this chapter has been so long coming. After writing the first chapter I realized I have enough story ideas floating around in my head to write 5 stories so I had to sort out exactly what path this story would take.

CHAPTER 2

Grissom walked into the break room at the start of shift, surprised to see Sara was the only one to have arrived so far.

She was sitting at the table reading a forensics magazine and seemed completely oblivious to his arrival.

"Hi" he said to her

"Hey" she said, looking up briefly before returning back to the article she obviously found so absorbing. Grissom walked over to the coffee machine and grabbed a cup of coffee. He turned around and stared at Sara. She was so beautiful. How could he have been so stupid and so blind? How could any man resist her? He knew he would have to do something soon. He couldn't believe that it wasn't too late already.

As he stood there, trying to find the right words to say to her his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of the rest of his team approaching the room.

Nick and Greg walked in first, still laughing at some joke they just shared. Sofia followed them in, looking her normal unemotional self.

"Hey Sara" Nick said, spotting her at the table. She looked up from the magazine and gave him one of her big grins. Grissom felt a pain in his chest as Sara leapt up from her seat and gave Nick a big hug.

"Glad to see you made it back onto graveyard again" Sara said , as she pulled away from Nick.

"Yeah, well not even Ecklie could deny my request after being buried in a box by a nut case"

As everyone grabbed a seat at the table Greg said " Hey Sara we're all getting together after shift to grab some drinks do you want to come with us"

Before she could answer Nick said " Warrick and Catherine are meeting us an hour after our shift ends. We're going down to that karaoke bar on the Strip"

" I hear you and Warrick put on a pretty good show there" Greg said with a wink.

Sara laughed. " Yeah , count me in, it's been awhile since we've been there, it sounds like fun. It's been awhile since I've been able to get my singing voice out"

"cool" Greg Said, punching an arm in the air " another one of my fantasies about to come true".

As everyone started to laugh they completely missed the glare Grissom was directing at Greg.

"So is this an open invitation for everyone?" Grissom asked.

Sara,Nick and Greg looked at each other until Nick responded. " Of course you're invited Gris I just didn't ask because you never come out with us. I didn't think you'ld be interested."

"After everything we've been through recently I think sharing a couple of drinks with my work colleagues sounds like a very good idea."

" The more the merrier" Sara said. "Are you coming aswell ?" Sara said to the blond sitting opposite her.

"I'ld love to" said Sofia " But, unfortunately I'm due in court at 1 so I have to go home and grab a couple of hours sleep so I'm fresh enough for the defence attorney"

" That's ashame" Sara said while inwardly feeling very glad she wouldn't be there. She'd heard all the office gossip about Grissom and Sofia's dinner date and didn't feel comfortable being around the two of them. All the times she'd opened up to Grissom about her feelings and all she'd gotten back from him was silence. She'd taken that to mean he had feelings for her but wasn't able to vocalise them just yet.

So she had hung on, waiting for the day Grissom would open up to her. Then she'd heard he had asked Sofia out for dinner. When she'd first heard about it she thought her heart would burst apart from the pain she was feeling. Then she felt angry, but now she just felt stupid. His silence obviously meant he didn't have feelings for her but couldn't come right out and say it. All those years she had held out hope and it was all for someone who didn't care.

No matter how she felt she still loved her job and she was a professional so she was determined not to let her feelings affect her work.

She showed up every night and was friendly and professional towards both Grissom and Sofia, hiding what she really felt. Still, she was glad she wouldn't have to keep up the charade after work hours, especially when she was looking forward to going out and letting her hair down. It had been awhile since her and Warrick had gotten up to sing at the karaoke bar and the thought of doing it again made her smile.

Grissom watched the slight smile touch Sara's lips and was glad to see it. She had been distant recently, not really showing any emotion, it was nice to see her happy again.

He had a feeling after work drinks was going to be fun. Seeing Sara sing on stage would be a treat for him. He'd heard her sing in the lab a few times but to see her up on stage would be thrilling.

He looked at the faces around the table looking back to him and realized he'd have to get out of his daydreaming. There was work to do first.

"o.k everyone here are your assignments for tonight"


End file.
